The Magical Buffet

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About

What is The Magical Buffet?

The Magical Buffet is where spirituality, politics, and pop culture collide, with hopefully entertaining and enlightening results. What started as a monthly online magazine in October 2006 was re-launched in 2008 as an interactive website that discusses things that interest Magical Buffet founder Rebecca Elson. Readers will find articles and interviews that deal with religion, the paranormal, First Amendment issues, popular culture, magical practices, and whatever else is on Rebecca’s mind at any given moment. The Magical Buffet is dedicated to decreasing fear by bringing communities together in the interest of understanding and then utilizing that unity to help Rebecca become supreme ruler of the world.

Algae Farm Over Highway Eats Pollution
A French and Dutch design firm has created a prototype algae farm over a highway in Geneva, Switzerland. It eats the CO2 from car and truck exhaust, and could be used to produce biodiesel, green electricity, medication, cosmetics, or even food.

Interact With 3D Models of Space Vehicles Like Iron Man Would
Anyone else remember that scene in Iron Man where Tony Stark (billionaire, philanthropist, genius) is moving the holo projections around like they’re real-world objects, instead of cool bits of light in the air? NASA rocket scientists have developed an app (definitely iOS, possibly others) that uses the smartphone’s camera, a real-world reference marker, and superimposes a full 3D model of a variety of NASA vehicles and satellites into virtual space. Seriously, this is scifi-type future stuff, here. You can turn the “reference marker” (or printed piece of paper with the special pattern) and the 3D model of, say, the Mars Curiosity rover will move with it. You can zoom in on specific details simply by moving the phone closer to the virtual 3D model. The future is here, people.

Search your favorite app store for: “Spacecraft 3D”

Here’s a video, showing off the action:

Island Discovered in the Arctic
No, this isn’t a headline from 1894. No, it is not a story featuring a strange doctor, and his fetish for animal/human hybrids. Nor will there be dinosaurs. Probably. Russian military helicopter pilots, on a return from a supply mission saw an island in the Arctic ocean north of Tiksi (it’s in Siberia). It wasn’t on any maps. So why now? That area is normally covered with ice for much, if not all of the year, until recently. The low-lying island simply wasn’t visible before. Kinda cool that we’re still discovering islands.

Spiral Undersea City
Apparently some Japanese investors are planning on opening an underwater spiral sea-city by 2030.

Science and Music Combined
Into an awesome show of fire, water, and lightning. All real, no special effects.

Ancient Computer in LEGO
Remember the Antikythera mechanism? That weird series of gears found in a shipwreck, and dated to 1500 BCE? Scientists later figured out, using x-ray tomography, that the mechanism was designed to predict eclipses. And it does. With startling accuracy. Now see how that works, through the wonder of LEGO.

About John:John’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).